Archive for 2010

Great news! OG’s Speculative Fiction, Issue 23 has been released! In Lawrence Dagstine’s “My Own Private Earth” two brothers game for toy planets that are far more than toy planets while two other brothers struggle to escape the Germans in WWII. Wayne Helge’s “Voyeurs” will tempt you to believe that a toy model of Chicago [...]

I was four when I realized I wanted to be a conqueror. I had a whole tin of green army soldiers and the whole kitchen was in my sights. The chair arms became mountains, the crevices under the cabinets became caves, and the hardwood floors became fields and plains ripe for plucking. I wanted to conqueror it all. To rule it all.

I grew older loving stories of all the great conquerors. I liked hearing of Charlemaine and King Richard the Lion Hearted. I loved reading about the battles of Napoleon Bonaparte and Alexander the Great.

“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.” ~ M K Gandhi

Money has been the world’s primary measure of success over the last 200 years. Nations want bigger GDPs. Corporations want higher market capitalization. And we individuals all want fatter bank accounts. The assumption is that if we have the money, everything else can be acquired. Money can buy us better health, more leisure time – and even increased happiness.

If ever I asked “Where shall we go for dinner?” when we lived in Tokyo, F was sure to answer “Gyoza Party.” Actually, he often suggested it even when I hadn’t asked. Like, daily. In fact though, Gyoza Party (yes, I did intend for that to be capitalised) is less a place, than a state of mind. Gyoza Party is a happy place, a place where an endless parade of gyoza magically appear within chopstick range, dip themselves delicately in the shouyu, vinegar and chilli oil and insinuate themselves gently between your lips, only to explode in an orgy of garlicky porkiness.

In high school, like Stephen King and others, I started out on the school paper. I loved working on it. I thrived on deadlines, the crazy fun coming up with headers, getting to do my own features, guest editing the April Fool’s edition, all that. And I really got a high from writing my own quirky columns. I won an award for my editorial about astronaut Scott Carpenter, who was from our home town (Boulder, Colorado.) Seeing a newspaper I helped produce, tossed into the school hallways and trod upon was a stiletto heel through my vanity. With ink in my blood, I dreamed I’d be the next Ben Franklin, Sam Clemmons, or Erma Bombeck.

It’s not easy to come up with romantic ideas for Valentine’s Day every year. Sometimes a good idea just costs too much. Or sometimes the only idea you come up with is just too ordinary, and though it took you a long time think of and will cost money, you know that she will think you took the easy route. And you know that if she thinks that, then she will think you don’t care that much about her.

It’s always in the air around Valentine’s Day. For many of us, we walk with a lighter step as we think back over the years we have spent with our wife or husband and how far we have come and all the wonderful experiences we have had. We think forward to the night with a little bit of excitement. We have already planned something special. We hope the delivery man comes on time and that the best cook is on duty at the new hip restaurant down the street, where we have reservations for 7PM sharp. Then our minds flash forward to what her face is going to look like when she sees our gift and we can’t help but smile a little more.

When you do your business writing, consider incorporating the principle of Excite, Delight and Entice. What this means is that you emotionalize your writing in such way that your readers cannot only picture themselves living a more satisfactory life, but can feel the excitement and satisfaction they would have. This produces a strong pull to explore working with you. In effect, they say to themselves, “If s/he knows enough about what I want to write like this – like they know me and my problems – I REALLY want to talk to them about what they do.”

If you look back over the course of history, what started as a trickle of inventions has turned into a waterfall. Imagine it: first came fire, then five thousand years later the wheel, then a thousand years later the plow, then five hundred years later the printing press, then a hundred years later the telescope. Now, every day brings new inventions and advancements in previous inventions.

The internet is one of the more recent developments when you look at the timeline and it has been fascinating to watch it morph from a data transfer technology into a realm of unspeakable possibilities.

Great news! OG’s Speculative Fiction, Issue 22 has been released! In Dawn Lloyd’s “Mr. Pinenut” a man gets a second chance at love, but does he take it? Benjamin Crowell’s “Fork” will rearrange your thinking on alternate realities. Also included is poetry by Marina Lee Sable. Let us know what you think of the issue! [...]